


NCT High school

by roseimano



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Actor Jeno, Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Fluff, Goalie Haechan, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Midfielder Mark, Painter Renjun, Pianist Jaemin, Some teenage angst, Wait no Jeno is a theater nerd
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-30
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-01-07 00:57:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 15,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12222501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseimano/pseuds/roseimano
Summary: The stories of the dreamies at high school.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> When you already are writing one ongoing series but keep having ideas for a whole other one. -Hair colors based off We Young era!

   
  


It’s happened again. All eyes on the blue-haired freshman as he enters a classroom full of people. Unfamiliar people. He’s walked into the wrong classroom again. Jisung tries to escape the room as soon as he steps foot inside but the sound of the teacher clearing his throat stops him in his tracks.

 

“I think you may have the wrong class.” The teacher states. Mr. Blanely, his board reads.

 

“Ah, yes. I’m sorry for interrupting your class.” He manages to respond in a quiet voice. He can feel the other students judging eyes on him. _God, I must look like such a fool._ He thinks to himself.

 

“I suppose you are a new student, a freshman?”

 

Jisung can only nod his head. He could just feel his face start to burn up in embarrassment. From the corner of his eye, he sees a purple haired boy stand up from his chair while raising his hand.

 

“Sir, would it be alright if I helped this student to his classroom?” A familiar voice asks.

 

The teacher pauses for a second before allowing the boy to help. As soon as he gets the okay, he jumps from his desk and heads to the door, taking Jisung’s wrist on his way out. A couple steps away from the classroom and Jisung is finally able to let out a sigh of relief.

 

“Thank you so much, Chenle. I was about to die.” The blue-haired boy said as he followed the boy through the (mostly) empty halls.

 

“I doubt that,” He giggles before turning to the younger. “What classroom were you attempting to find?”

 

Jisung stops for a second, taking a crinkled paper out from his pocket naming his schedule. “Uh, room 209.” He responds after a few seconds. Chenle nearly trips on the stairs that they were going down. Taking ahold of the railing with a dramatic squeal, he faces the younger.

 

“Room 209?!”

 

Jisung nods his head, taken aback by Chenle’s yell. “Yeah, what’s wrong?”

 

“That’s like all the way on the other side of campus!” Chenle says, going down the stairs a little quicker now. Just as the words leave his mouth, a loud noise erupts from the innercon speakers. The late bell.

 

“What do you mean! It was supposed to be right where your classroom was! I… I thought so at least.” Jisung says, pointing at the school map that a guidance counselor had given to him at the start of the week. Chenle lets out an exasperated groan as he flips over the map Jisung was holding.

 

“Jeez, for a guy taking honors level classes you sure are dumb!”

 

“Hey!” Jisung whines in protest.

 

Chenle only laughs again while trying his best to walk faster to where Jisung’s class really is. “Come on, let’s just get you to your that room 209.”

 

Jisung smiles as he follows the purple haired boy. That is until they were stopped by a teacher in the halls.

 

“Well, well, boys. It’s only the first few weeks of school and you’re already skipping classes?”

 

Jisung’s face goes pale as he freezes in place. “N-no! No, Chenle was just helping me find my-”

 

“Oooh, Chenle. Already teaching him the best places to skip? Did you show him the supplies closet yet?” The woman asks, raising an eyebrow. Chenle’s cheeks turn bright red.

 

After a few moments of stuttered words and failed sentences from both the boys, the woman smiles. She turns to the younger boy.

 

“Calm down, I know that you’re just getting to class with the help of my good student, Chenle here. You probably should have gotten a hall pass before doing so, though. Here,”

 

She hands them both a yellow slip of paper each, before gesturing for them to move along. Jisung turns to Chenle as soon as they’re out of earshot.

 

“Who’s she?”

 

“Oh, Miss Tufano, the economics teacher. She likes scaring the new students and teasing the old students.”

 

“Ah, so she knows you?”

 

“Yeah, I was in her class freshman year. When you get to know her she’s pretty chill, but like I said, she makes fun of you every chance she gets.”

 

After passing a few other late students and possible lost freshman, they bear closer to room 209. Just as they’re approaching the door, Jisung thanks Chenle and rushes into the classroom. After a quick apology to the teacher, Jisung is seated at his desk, pulling out his biology textbook from his overweight bag.

 

The rest of the day is a drag. He doesn’t get another glimpse of Chenle until the school day ends. Talking to a blonde haired boy wearing paint-splattered jeans and converse. 


	2. Chapter 2

 

 

It was finally the end of the school day. Jeno already knew that there was going to be a lot of homework to finish tonight. It doesn’t help that he’s involved in the after-school play. But he doesn’t mind. It's his passion, to be in the spotlight. Singing, acting and sometimes even dancing.

 

But today, Jeno didn’t come prepared. It’s bad enough to forget to bring active clothing for choreography days, but nothing is worse than wearing white for a set painting day. The after-school play requires each actor or actress to help build, paint, or supply the set for the play. There’s no getting out of this now. One of the art teachers, Miss Ketola, had already seen him enter the room and dragged him straight to the workspace.

 

“Alright! Now that most of us are here, let’s assign jobs.” Miss Ketola said, smiling as she clasped her hands together.

 

“Sarah, finish building the staircase, you two, cut these planks of wood into thirds.” She went on, giving jobs to each person in the room. Jeno waited until his name was called out.

 

“And Jeno, you and…” She paused, bringing her hand down as she scanned the room. Just as she opened her mouth to ask a question, the door swung open and a blonde-haired boy burst in with flushed cheeks. ' _He must have ran here.'_ Jeno thought to himself.

 

“Ah! There you are! Renjun, you and Jeno will be painting on left stage. The paints, as you know, are downstairs in the storage closet. Now, get to it!”

 

The boy, Renjun, nodded and shot a glance toward Jeno before gesturing his hand to follow him. Jeno compiled and hurried to his side. As they exited the theater, Renjun glanced at the other boy.

 

“So you must be the Jeno that Miss K. keeps talking about. The amazing lead for this year’s play?” He asked.

 

Jeno could only nod as he tried his hardest not to break out in a huge grin.

 

“Im Renjun, as you’ve heard from her. I just moved here from China, I’m one of the boarding students. As soon as Miss K. saw my paintings from her art class, she signed me up to volunteer to paint the set.”

 

“Yep, that sounds like her. At least you’ll be getting credit for volunteering. And plus, you get the chance to meet me and all the other cast.” Jeno smiled.

 

“Exactly,” He smiled. “I bet that we’ll be working a lot this year, so it’s nice to meet you.”

 

The two made it to the storage closet and went entered the mess of a room. Paint cans, brushes, sponges and trays were all scattered around the room.

 

“Okay, so we need brown, black, white, and grey. No bright colors today,” Renjun reminded as they approached the shelf of paints.

 

After finding the colors needed, they headed back to the theater with an armful of paints and rollers. They set the many supplies on a tarp before getting straight to work. Renjun took a black paint can and opened the it up, a paint mixing stick in his other hand. Jeno did the same with a brown paint can. But something was off. Renjun frowned.

 

“Did I seriously accidentally take a blue can instead of black?” Renjun groaned as he picked up the paint can to read the label.

 

“I don’t know, but this brown looks a little… uh pink.” Jeno commented.

 

They had forgotten that sometimes, what’s on the label isn’t what is always in the container. People tended to mix colors or fill cans with complete opposite paints.

 

So after realizing that all the colors were in fact not the right ones, they headed back with a paint can in each hand to the small storage closet in the basement.

 

Both boys took multiple paint cans off the shelves and opened them, hoping that at least one was the correct color. Black was found immediately, white was a bit trickier, grey was impossible to find so they just agreed to mix black and white, but brown was nowhere to be found.

 

“I swear, we’ve looked at every can in here. Are we sure that there even is a brown?” Jeno questioned as he placed an almost-empty red container back to its original spot.

 

“I would think so, it’s a popular color for set work so there has to be at least a little bit left.”

 

After a moment of searching and looking over the room, Renjun exclaimed a loud “Oh!” before running up to a shelf. He reached up and stood of his tippy toes, but no matter how much he stretched, he couldn't reach the desired can. Jeno smiled a bit at the sight before doing the same. He could nearly touch it with his finger tips, but it was just too high. That’s when he decided to jump a bit to at least touch the brown can. It worked, but it also knocked down a red and blue can as well. Both of which that fell onto the concrete floor and burst open, spilling the colors everywhere. Jeno glanced up at Renjun with a look of worry. The other boy stared right back at him, but with a much different expression. He had a huge grin on his face as he burst out with laughter. Jeno’s flash of worry disappeared as he gave in to the joyful laugher as well.

 

“Hey Jeno,” Renjun said between laughter and giggles. “You’ve got a little paint on you.”

 

Jeno looked down and realized that his white pants had been ambushed with splatters of red and blue paint, some of it even mixing into purple. Pretty, but messy.

 

The floor wasn’t much better. The once grey floor was colored completely with blue and red paint. They were gonna have to clean this up… unless.

 

“Run. Walk away as if we were never here.” Renjun said after a moment.

 

 _'He’s not as innocent as I made him out to be'_ Jeno thought as a mischievous smile took over his face.

 

“Let’s go.” He agreed, taking the brown paint can in one hand while a white in the other.

 

Though they tried their best to avoid stepping in the paints, they failed miserably. Each step they took left a mark of blue and red of the white linoleum floor.

 

“The janitor is gonna kill us.” Said Renjun as he looked back at the mess they had made.

 

“Only if they catch us.” Jeno responded with a shrug.

 

“I think it’s pretty obvious who the culprit of this is when we’re both covered in blue and red paint.” He gestured down to their legs and shoes that were covered in drying paint.

 

“We can play it off.” Jeno winked at the blonde which caused him to giggle a bit as he nodded.

  


(Later the two were called with a shriek from Miss Ketola to “get your butts downstairs and clean that mess you made!” followed with “I knew that it was a bit off when you strolled back mysteriously covered in paints that we weren’t even using!”

 

It wasn’t much of a punishment for them as they got to spend more time together that afternoon.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this in class eek


	3. Chapter 3

 

Mark loves autumn. When the leaves start to change to variations of reds, yellows and oranges. The temperature gets colder. But most importantly, soccer season is finally back. Mark lives and breathes soccer, after all, he is the boy’s varsity team captain. He’s a good contender for the best player and there’s no denying that he  _ could _ be the best player. With all the coach’s praises, he is quite obviously the favorite of the team. Along with his skill in soccer, he also exceeds in academics. He’s in many advanced placement classes, a couple clubs and of course, soccer. Sometimes it can be hard to manage his time with such loads of homework and keep up with his commitments (But of course, he pushes through). Back to soccer, some of Mark’s closest friends are on the team. Donghyuck and Jisung. Jisung is a freshman, one of the few freshman on the varsity team. The two met when they were in grade school. Jisung was the only other boy at the dance classes they took. All the girls stayed a good three of four feet away from them at least or else they’d get cooties. Mark had known Donghyuck for as long has he’s known. Best friends since kindergarten. They went through everything together, pet deaths, failed tests, heartbreaks, and many, many tears. It seems, though, that all the happier memories over weighed the bad. 

 

Donghyuck had always cherished his friendships. A little secret of his; he’s never dated anyone before. For one reason, one bad incident, one heartbreak. Freshman year, he admired someone. A boy. A boy in his geometry class. He had some kind of feelings for this boy. Feelings he’d never had towards anyone before.  And he fell in love. So deep, too deep. He never told anyone of this before. One fateful day, he gathered up the courage to confess. The boy was disgusted. “What the fuck? You think I’m gay, faggot? Stay away from me, I don’t talk to gays.” He had said. The words burnt into his memory so that he still remembers the whole conversation today. Donghyuck was shocked. He had become friends with this boy, talked to him, laughed with him, studied with him and yet, he had never seen this side of him before. After that conversation, things just got worse. The boy spread a rumor about Donghyuck’s sexuality.

 

“Ever seen him stare at you in the locker rooms?” 

 

“Is that why he’s always hanging around girls? Because he fits in with them?”

 

“You think he’d be willing to suck my dick?”

 

People teased him, taunted him, and made so many nasty comments. What made it worse was being an easy target being a freshman. Donghyuck fell depressed. The sassy, fiery passioned boy had left. He struggled to pull himself out of the dark pit of despair. Until someone reached out. Someone pulled him from that sadness and made everything better. Mark. Mark was by Donghyuck’s side the whole time, and Donghyuck really appreciated that. From then on, the younger boy never fell in love again, not even by just the smallest crush. Instead, he decided to cherish his friendships. 

 

Sometimes these memories would pop back into his head at the most inconvenient times. Today was one of those days that the haunting memories would fill his head. And apparently, it seemed to be showing. 

 

“Donghyuck! Get back on your feet! I know you’re a goalie, but that doesn’t get you out of running!” Coach yelled from the sidelines. 

 

Donghyuck was on his knees. He could feel the turf scorch the skin of his knees. Another damn turf burn. Someone came from behind him, took his arm and helping the him up. God bless Mark Lee. 

 

“Good sportsmanship, Mark. Keep it up! Take notes everyone, that’s what you do to be a good player. He’s not team captain for nothing!” Coach yelled again. Donghyuck took a deep breath and picked up his feet to run. Mark tagged along close by his side.

 

“Hey, Hyuck. What’s up? You seem a bit out of it today. Everything alright?” The older boy asked, lightly nudging Donghyuck on his shoulder. He only shrugged in response.

 

“Do you wanna talk about it? Maybe after practice?” 

 

“No, I’m good.” Donghyuck said, but didn’t look Mark in the eye. A quirk that Mark new was a hint that he was lying. Before he could question any more, coach yelled out to the team, clapping his hands to get attention. So instead, Mark just slung an arm around Donghyuck’s shoulder.    
  


“Alright boys, today is all about muscle development and stamina. So that means that today’s practice is going to be conditioning. I know that it can get boring just kicking around the balls as usual, so I’m doing you a kind favor.” He smiled, knowing well that everyone would much rather be doing ball drills than conditioning. Groans could be heard loud and clear from the team. Coach ignored and continued his speech. “So if I see any of you fooling around, that’s thirty more pushups… for the whole team!” A few players straightened up after those words. “Now go, you know what to do!”

 

And with those words, everyone scattered. 

 

For two hours, all the players did drills including muscle enhancement. Though it wasn’t the favorite thing to do as an athlete, it payed off after much hard work.  Practice ended up going quicker than expected. No one ended up having to do any extra push ups, but Donghyuck got a couple warnings. Though it wasn’t quite his fault, Mark’s actually. Everyone knows that Coach favors Mark. For some reason, Coach wasn’t fond of Donghyuck. And even though he isn’t supposed to have biased opinions of players during practice, it really shows. 

  
  


“Ahh, I’m gonna be so sore tomorrow!” Jisung mentioned as the team changed in the locker rooms. 

 

“I’m already sore!” One of the boys, Jaemin yelled from across the lockers. 

 

“Yeah, today’s practice was really the worst.” Mark agreed with them. He glanced toward Donghyuck to see if he had anything to add, but the boy stayed silent, slipping on his sweatshirt and fixing his hair. Usually, he would be going on and on about how much he hated drills or how it was too cold out today to be practicing outside. 

 

But he stayed silent. 

 

Mark often noticed the little details like this; when Hyuck was acting differently. He was like that for many of his close friends, but read Donghyuck the best out of them all. Usually, he was able to cheer the younger boy up or at least lift his spirits the slightest. But today, Donghyuck was resistant to talking to anyone. 

 

Not even Mark was able to help. 

 

After changing and saying their goodbyes, Mark and Donghyuck went back out into the brisk autumn air to walk home. A routine they’ve had after each soccer practice. Today, Donghyuck didn’t bother to change out of his cleats. Each step he took, you could hear the clack of the studs hit the cement sidewalk. Mark’s eyes focused on their feet for a while before looking up at Donghyuck. He took this moment as a chance to finally get through to the other boy. 

 

“Hyuckie, can you tell me what’s wrong?” He broke the silence, while also using his pet name. Donghyuck liked it when Mark called him “Hyuckie” or “Dongsookie”. 

 

“It’s nothing, really. It shouldn’t even be bothering me.” He responded, looking ahead with a faint frown on his face. 

 

“That doesn’t matter, if it’s bothering you even the slightest, it has to have some kind of meaning to you”

 

“I guess,” He sighed. “It’s just that… it seems that the coach is never impressed with me. Like I’m always doing something wrong somehow. And if that’s so, should I really be on Varsity?” 

 

“That’s not true, Coach has everyone on the team for a reason. You’re an amazing player who saves our asses when it comes to being a goalie. I swear, no one on the team is a better goalkeeper than you. And at least you get to play a position at all. Poor Jaemin almost never is in and he’s an excellent player! It’s just that Coach has his biases.” 

 

“Yeah, I feel bad for the guy…”

 

“You’re doing your best so far. And with hard work, you’ll only improve.”

 

Donghyuck was silent for a moment. “Yeah, thanks Mark. You always find a way to make me feel better.” Then he smiled. Half genuine, half forced. There was still one last thing bothering him.

 

_ Is my best really enough for Coach? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :0


	4. Chapter 4

 

 

A cool breeze ruffled the hair of a blond boy sitting on the concrete steps. It was after school and he was waiting. Today was a particularly, cold autumn day. Every now and then, the boy would close his eyes to block out the sound of students walking by, talking to friends and laughing. Before he knew it, the busses had already left and many children had already been picked up. And he waited, watching the colorful leaves fall from their branches and be carried by the wind.

He clutched the ends of his sweater, his cheeks colored a rosey red. 

 

As he waited on the cement steps, he heard footsteps running towards him, but didn’t look back. Soon, two large hands covered his vision followed with a familiar voice. “Guess who?” The other said, Renjun could hear the smile him his voice.

 

“Jeno? What took you so long?” He asked.

 

“The teacher held me back for a little bit. She said that I had to stop interrupting her class with references to plays and musicals.” 

 

“Ohh,” Renjun responded with a laugh. 

 

“So, what do you say we get going?” Jeno said, standing up and reaching a hand out to help the other boy up. 

 

“Yeah,” 

 

And with that, Renjun slung his backpack over his shoulder and followed Jeno to the bike stands. 

They got on their individual bikes and began pedaling. Luckily, the high school was nearby a small harborside town that many of the students went to after school. So that means they wouldn't be traveling too far in the cold. 

 

Side by side, the two rode to their destination: the coffee shop. A smile sat wide on Renjun’s face as the wind blew through his blonde locks. Though his fingers were colored with cold, he enjoyed the brisk autumn air nipping at his skin through the sweater. 

 

As they went down a hill, Jeno glanced at Renjun with a fond smile and just admired how happy he looked. A bright smile on his face, rosy cheeks and the sparkle in his dark brown eyes that would every so often get covered up from the hair blowing in his face. At that moment, Jeno decided that he should bike with Renjun more often. He got so distracted that he nearly ran into a familiar blue haired freshman as they turned a corner. 

 

“Sorry!” He yelled before sheepishly glancing at Renjun for his reaction. To his surprise, the boy was laughing his head off. He even momentarily had to stop his pedaling just to catch his breath from laughing. 

 

“How do you manage?” He eventually asked. 

 

“I dont know.” Jeno smiled back at him and they continued towards town. 

 

The bike ride from then on was quite fast. They made it to town and left their bikes at a nearby stand before heading to a cafe. As they entered the welcomingly warm shop, they were quickly greeted by a boy who they recognized from school. His nametag read Minhyuk. The two claimed a table before going to order. 

 

“I am so glad we didn’t have rehearsal today. The past few weeks have been so stressful.”

 

“Yeah, me too! My throat has been hurting a bit recently, so I need to rest a bit before singing again.”

 

They ordered their drinks and went back to their table.

 

“So Jeno,” Renjun started with a smile. “How long have you been in drama and theater?”

 

“Woah, okay. I think about… six years?” 

 

“Six?! Wow. Have you auditioned for any really big shows before? Like one with 1,000 seats in the auditorium?” 

 

“No… it’s kind of silly but I have a bit of stage fright. I can only perform in front of so many people.”

 

Just as Renjun was about to comment on his confession, the barista called out to them with two paper cups in his hands. Jeno immediately stood up and fetched the two drinks and brought them back to the table. 

 

After that, they just stuck with talking about the play, their interests and school. Jeno found out that Renjun was in an excessive amount of clubs, has been drawing and painting ever since his mother bought him a whole children’s art kit, and really enjoys singing, but never has done any kind of chorus before. Renjun got to know more about Jeno’s life outside of school, family, and a bunch of his friends that he wanted Renjun to meet. They talked on and on until Renjun got a text from his mother to start heading back home. 

 

The chime of the bells bid them goodbye as they walked out from the cafe. Renjun pulled his sweater over his hands as they took a few steps outside into the cooler air. The sun had started to set by now and the wind picked up in the slightest. If it were any colder, they would be able to see their own breath. They decided not to ride their bikes home with it getting dark out. Instead, they walked their bikes on the mostly empty side walks. They had to admit, it’s was much colder than what they anticipated. Not even the warmth from the thin coffee cup could warm their fingers as they tingled with cold. Jeno noticed how Renjun shivered in his oversized sweater. In a quick, but a little unsure, movement, Jeno wrapped his arms around Renjun’s shoulders in an attempt to warm the boy up. Oh and it did, but mostly just his face. His face burned red, but a small smile formed as well. In that position, the two walked home, both cheeks tinted with red and both just a little bit warmer. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be posted on Halloween but the whole town had a power outage... eek. Also I didn't edit this.


	5. Chapter 5

 

 

Science was the worst. Or at least it was to Mark and Donghyuck. Neither liked the subject and neither liked their teacher. They happen to be in the same science class, despite being different ages. And of course, they have a class with Mrs. Leslie. She and her monotone voice really makes the subject ten times worse. It takes everything they’ve get inside them to pay attention in that class, so they end up having to study the torturous topic even more than they should just because they can’t help but space out in class. 

 

So Mark sat on his bed with papers and a textbook spread across the sheets while Donghyuck was sprawled on the floor with his papers just as scattered as Mark’s. 

 

“What the hell even is the Aufbau principle?” 

 

“The principle stating that as protons are added one by one to the nucleus to build up the elements, electrons are similarly added to hydrogen-like orbitals.” Mark said in almost the same voice as Mrs. Leslie. “Remember? She spent at least twenty useless minutes just talking about it.”

 

Donghyuck groaned. What was even the point of science if he wasn’t going into a career to do with it? He knew that the question was stupid, but he needed an excuse to get out of this class before he fails it. He would rather take another design, engineering or technology class instead And he HATES design, engineering, and technology. 

 

“Like seriously, why does she expect us to memorize things like chemical formula, Avogadro's Law and electron affinity when she can’t even remember where she left her reading glasses.” The younger complained as he shuffled through his notecards. 

 

“Yeah, with these classes, I sometimes seriously consider my life as a prostitute.” Mark said with a smile, expecting a reaction from Donghyuck but got nothing in response. Not even a roll of the eyes with a slight smile. 

  
“Something wrong?” 

 

Donghyuck kept his eyes on the ground and shrugged. 

 

Mark stayed silent for a moment. “Are you still upset about Coach?”

 

“No! No, that’s not it.” He sounded quite defensive. 

 

“...Then, what’s wrong?” Mark’s eyebrows were knit together with worry. 

 

Donghyuck didn’t respond. 

 

“Can you talk to me please? It seems like you’ve been distant with me lately.” 

 

The younger looked up for a second with wide eyes. “That’s not it… I’ve just been feeling a bit down recently.”

 

“But why? You can tell me.” Mark urged. 

 

“I’m just stressed, that’s all.” Donghyuck tried to brush off the topic, but Mark’s dark eyes kept him from lying. “And I guess I’ve just been stuck in my thoughts recently. Like, I keep thinking about freshman year and just, the thought that it could happen again? I don’t want to experience that again. It’s scary knowing that you could step into a bathroom and a bunch of homophobes could-”

 

“Stop.” Mark said, his voice serious and a little pained. “Don’t think that way. I won’t let that happen to you.”

 

“But how do you know? Someday, someone could start to call you a fag just because you hang out with me. Then what? Will you abandon me just like  _ he _ did?” He was yelling now. 

 

“It doesn’t matter what people think of me if I hang out with you. It’s my own choice to be with whoever I want to.”

 

“But it does matter! It’s my fault that people would start to hate you. It’s not fair.”

 

Mark stood up from his bed and sat down next to Donghyuck. The younger boy’s eyes turned red, but he held back any tears that threatened to fall, because  _ boys don’t cry.  _

 

Mark knew that Donghyuck was having one of those days where he felt that the whole world were against him. He seemed to be having those days a lot more often. 

 

And Mark was worried. He was worried for his best friend. On those days, he missed seeing the boy smile and laugh with his beautiful white teeth. He missed seeing the boy confident in his own skin, nowadays, he seemed to skip meals and stay away from revealing clothing. He just wished that his friend could always be happy and comfortable with himself, no matter what appearance, personality or sexuality he has. 

 

Carefully, Mark put an arm around Donghyuck’s shoulders, bringing the boy closer to him. “Hyuckie,” He started. “No matter what happens, whether you like it or not, I’ll be right by your side. Just remember that.” 

 

Donghyuck nodded hesitantly, if he talked, his voice would crack. Before he could really think through his actions, he began to gather up his papers and laptop, shoving them into his bag. Mark didn’t question him until the younger began to walk out the room. He immediately stood up from the floor, following the red haired boy.

“Wait, Hyuck-” 

 

“Sorry, Mark, I just gotta go.” Donghyuck stated, grabbing his jacket and walking hurriedly out the front door. Before Mark could say another word, Donghyuck was already on the sidewalk, running home. 

 

The next day, both boys played poorly at soccer practice. All because of unsettled emotions and lack of communication.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter made me cringe. I was going to just delete it from the story, but didn’t feel like wasting this chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't edit this :)

 

 

“I don’t wanna go!” The purple haired boy whined. 

 

“Come on Lele, I we promised Mark and Haechan that we would go.” His blue haired friend said beside him.

 

Chenle, Jisung, Jeno and Renjun were going to the Haunted House that was at the school. Student council made the preparations and the haunted house was for anyone who wanted to help. So Mark and Donghyuck volunteered to be inside of the haunted house. 

 

“Wait, Chenle, are you scared?” Jeno said with a smile. Chenle couldn’t tell if he was teasing or genuinely asking him. 

 

“No!” He denied and crossed his arms. But he responded a little too quick to come across as normal. 

 

“Then let’s go!” Renjun yelled, already racing down the halls. It was clear that the older boy really, really enjoyed halloween. 

 

“Hey, wait a second! Weren’t you just saying that you wouldn’t go in unless you had someone come with you!?” Chenle yelled and caught up to the overly excited boy. 

 

The two boys continued to bicker all the way until they stood before the entrance of the haunted house. 

 

“Okay okay, quiet down now. We’re here.” Jisung said. 

 

“Always acting as though you're the oldest,” Jeno commented and rolled his eyes. 

 

Soon enough, the boys calmed down and crowded in front of the entrance. Next to the closed door stood a bloodied doctor. The people inside must have to take turns collecting tickets. 

 

She looked the group of boys up and down with a blank face before stating, “Uh, only two people at a time. Sorry.” 

 

Chenle watched as Jeno and Renjun immediately paired up. Hopefully Jisung would be willing to go in with him. There’s no way he’s going in alone. As he turned his head hopefully to the younger, he found that Jisung was already looking his way. 

 

“I’m guessing you want to go together?” He said with a small smile. 

 

“Yeah, if that’s alright…” Chenle said, his nervous smile melted away and turned into a big toothy grin. “Thank you, Jisung!” 

 

In those moments of conversation, Jeno and Renjun vanished into the haunted house. So the freshman and sophomore sat, listening to muffled shrieks and screams through the closed door. Seconds passed, Tick, Tick,Tick, and Chenle got more nervous with each second that passed. For a while, there was silence. Chenle’s hands fidgeted with the end of his sweatshirt. 

 

“What’s taking them so long?” He eventually muttered. “Shouldn’t they be out by now?”

 

He asked the question mainly to himself, so when the zombie-doctor thing answered, he was a little startled. “Well, the course is quite long. We did our best to make it as long as possible with such little space. We’ve also gotta reset everything after the last people get out.” 

 

When neither Chenle or Jisung responded, she continued. “I’ve heard that this year’s haunted house is the best one yet. People are actually scary, props are realistic. And it’s all thanks to the senior class. I hope you’re ready for this, because this is no joke.”

 

Suddenly, an equally bloody figure opened the door and gave the girl a thumbs up. She nodded and looked back to Jisung and Chenle. 

 

“It’s you’re turn.” She said as an unsettling smile took over her face. 

 

It took a moment for the two boys to stand up and carry themselves through the door and into the room. 

 

Jisung watched Chenle with careful eyes before putting a hand on his shoulder. _ Oh god, he knows.  _ Chenle thought as he looked over the the younger boy. The door suddenly shut behind them and Chenle flinched under Jisung’s palm. 

 

“Hey, Chenle. We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.” Jisung stated with a quiet voice. His face was lit up with a dim, red glow. If Chenle chickened out, then Jisung wouldn’t be able to go through. 

 

“No, I’m good. I knew you were looking forward to going here… and like you said, we promised Mark and Donghyuck.”

 

Jisung still looked unsettled, but nodded anyways. And right then, Chenle knew there was no turning back. 

 

From there, Jisung took the first few steps through the narrow hallway of the haunted house. There was white sheets with red stained onto them. Hanging from the ceiling was a flickering sign that read: Hospital. 

Once they grew enough confidence to move, they turned a corner and the next pathway was full of cut limbs, blood staining the white sheets around it and an unsettling silence. Jisung went first, taking careful steps. At the last few steps of the path, a scream ripped through the silence, startling both boys. When it continued, Chenle began to push Jisung forward. In the next scene, there was strobe lights flickering on a pale-faced woman who was strapped onto a table. Her torso was cut open, exposing the intestines inside. Someone nearby, chains were clacking. Another “patient” was chained up with half their face torn appart from who knows what. As they walked through that section, the chained up boy lunged toward them and nearly knocked Jisung off his feet. As they walked past the girl, she screamed and struggled against her restraints. Chenle shoved in front of Jisung, who just stared at the people, he turned a corner, only to be met with a doctor. Chenle screamed and toppled back toward Jisung. The doctor had red blood stained gloves, dark under eyes that contrast with his white skin. The two boys didn’t even recognize their older friend in the well made costume. Instead, they rushed out of the scene.

 

Next, they were met with a very foggy and dark hallway. There was only a single light at the end of the painfully long walk. Jisung started to walk through the dark, but paused as he realized his purple haired friend wasn’t following behind. 

 

“C’mon” He said, gesturing for the older boy to follow. An echo of hysterical laughter sounded somewhere behind them. Chenle could only shake his head as his feet stayed planted where they were. 

 

“The faster we go, the faster we get out.” Jisung said, making his way back to where Chenle stood. 

 

“No, no. I can’t. I… I should have told you earlier, I’m-” Chenle took a shaky breath. “I’m afraid of the dark” 

 

The younger boy only nodded and stood in front of the other boy. Jisung took his hand and squeezed it in his grasp. “You should have told me, I would have kept you closer to me.” He said. 

 

“I was afraid that if I told you, you wouldn’t go in. I didn’t want to ruin this for you.”

 

To his surprise, Jisung smiled. “Either way, I would have dragged you in.” 

 

Chenle rolled his eyes, despite knowing that the other couldn’t see him in the dark. “You brat.”

 

Jisung repositioned their hand so that their fingers were intertwined. “Let’s continue.” Chenle nodded. “And stay close to me.” 

 

Chenle squeezed Jisung’s hand and nodded again. They continued through the dark hallway. Maybe one of the most terrifying parts of the house because hands grabbed at their ankles. As they took their time through the particularly dark part of the house, they doctor from before came back and chased them until they got stuck in a bunch of fake spider webs. The doctor then disappeared into the shadows. From then on, they rushed through the rest of the haunted house. Finally, they made it to the end. But of course, the door didn’t open. No matter how much the tugged or pushed, it wouldn’t budge. Behind them stood an unmoving figure that neither noticed until Chenle turned around and shrieked. Which caused Jisung to yell in the process, but ultimately manage to open the door. As they both ran out, Chenle was clinging onto Jisung’s arm. They finally got out. Both just glanced at each other before collapsing onto the ground. It’s finally over. 

 

As the two caught their lost breath and let their nerves calm down, Jisung’s heart wouldn’t stop beating at such a fast pace. Even minutes after they left the haunted house. Though he wanted to blame it on the frights of the haunted house, that wasn’t quite the case. 

 

He would be lying if he said his heart was beating so fast because he was scared.

  
  



	7. Chapter 7

 

  
Jeno was back. Back in the theater for play rehearsal. Today, though, the cast was finally meeting and working with the pianist for the show. That meant that soon enough, they would be working with the full orchestra. The opening day keeps coming closer and closer and the cast keeps getting busier and busier. So Jeno got there early today just to meet the pianist. He had heard that the pianist was a student, impressive that a person around his age could play such intricate pieces of music.

“Jeno! You’re here early! What for?” The director yelled as soon as they saw him.

“Yeah,” He said, wandering on the stage a bit. “Do you know when the pianist will be here?”

“He’s backstage trying to move his piano to the orchestra section. How about you go help him and introduce yourself?”

“Sure,” Jeno yelled as he began toward backstage. He was personally quite eager to finally move the piano from backstage. It was always in the way and people would always be playing it when the director was talking.

Moving a curtain out the way, he found the brown-haired pianist leaning over the old brown piano. He looked a bit frustrated and out of breath.  
“You need some help?” Jeno called out and the boy turned his head, startled. And Jeno had to admit, he was quite attractive. It seemed that every person that he’d met that had anything to do with theater was remotely attractive.

“Yes,” He said, standing up straight upon hearing Jeno’s voice.

So Jeno proceeded to take a side of the piano while the boy took the other side, pushing and pulling until the got to the stairs. The real challenge. This took much more effort. The boy yelling “Careful! Careful!” as Jeno lifted the piano to go down each step one by one. Finally, they had delivered the wooden piano into the orchestra section.

The dark haired boy let out a breath of air and looked up to Jeno with a smile. “Thanks for helping, uh, what’s your name?”

“Jeno, I’m the lead for the play,” Jeno stated while extending a hand. The other boy shook it while flashing a bright smile. “I’m Jaemin, as you could probably guess, the pianist for the play.”

Jeno nodded his head and glanced at the piano. “How long have you been playing? After all, the music is quite intermediate for many musicians in high school.”

“About nine years.” He must have been asked that question many times.

“How about you?” The boy asked.

“Huh?”

“Oh, sorry, I mean how long have you been acting?” Jaemin sputtered out, cheeks dusting a hint of red.

“I started in sixth grade; I was forced to do a theater camp and ended up loving it.” He smiled thinking of the memory. “Did you get forced to play at a young age or…” Jeno asked next.

“Actually, no. Surprising, right? When I was young, I was obsessed with the piano. It just fascinated me so much. My mother played it every day, usually as I got home from school. One day, I asked her if I could be as good as a player as she was and then asked if I could take lessons. Her face lit up instantly. The next week, I was going to lessons every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.” Jaemin had a fond smile on his face as he talked. His fingers were grazing over the black and white keys. Then he looked back up with a bashful look in his eyes.

“Sorry, I probably just bored you out by rambling about my past.”

“No, you didn’t! Can you… go on?” Jeno asked. Jaemin’s face was blank for a moment before smiling and starting a new story.

Jeno couldn’t stop talking to Jaemin. He just seemed so interesting. But of course, he couldn’t. He had a rehearsal to prepare for, so Jeno bid his goodbye to Jaemin and got prepared for a run-through.

But even during the run-through, he couldn’t stop thinking about the dark-haired pianist. Every now and then, he glanced toward the boy and found that he was looking right back. And sometimes, he even winked. Jeno had to use all of the self control inside him to stay in character and not stutter his next lines.

What made him lose his cool happened at the end of rehearsal, Jaemin slipped a note into Jeno’s hand after a friendly handshake. Written in pencil with neat handwriting was a phone number. After he was went backstage, he let out a small squeal with a big smile. (The rest of the cast backstage gave him weird looks, but ignored it ultimately.)

That night, he texted the number and almost immediately got a response. Almost as though the pretty pianist was just waiting for him to contact him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not edited :p


	8. Chapter 8

 

  
“Are we there yet?” Donghyuck asked to Mark for about the fifth time. Sometimes, it felt as though Mark was taking care of a bunch of toddlers, always whining or yelling.

“Almost,” He responded, but kept his eyes on the road. Today, Mark had the bright idea of bringing a bunch of his friends to a corn maze.

“Well you’d better go faster. Imagine what’ll happen to us if someone finds out that we have seven people in a car that only can hold five.” Renjun yelled from the backseat. He was sat with many more people than what was legal for such a car. Jeno, Renjun, Jaemin, Chenle and Jisung were all squashed into the backseat. But somehow, it worked. Chenle was sitting on Jisung’s lap, Jaemin sat in the middle, Jeno sat by the window and Renjun was just placed on top of all of them.

Donghyuck was in the passenger seat, teasing them all about being so cramped in the back. He Even joked about putting two of them in the trunk just to make more space. And for a moment, Jisung and Chenle actually considered doing just that. (Mark stopped them before they could climb into the back.)

Much to Mark’s relief, they made it to the corn maze without being caught by cops or anything. As soon as they were parked, everyone climbed out, making it look as though the thing were a clown car.

After stretching out their cramped legs, the group of boys went to the start of the maze, ignoring the fact that anyone who goes in must have certain requirements:

A charged phone, flashlight, A buddy (optional) and has notified a worker that you’ve gone inside as well as a phone number to that person.

Instead, they all just ran in without a second thought. They had made a bet that whoever gets out last has to buy everyone dinner and dessert. So that means that all eight boys were determined to be the first one out.

So each went their own path, every now and then running into someone they know. Mark almost ran over a couple of children, Jaemin nearly fell five times trying to turn a corner, and Donghyuck began to “make his own paths” by cutting through the stalks of corn.

People could hear yells and voices from the boys in the maze clearly if one listened hard. That’s how loud they were. Jisung laughed at his older friends for being so competitive, yelling threats from across the corn maze. He hadn’t been in one since he was at least nine years old. It was nice to experience it again, but this time with a bit more sense of direction and knowledge. He was sure that this time, he would be able to get out so much faster than last time and maybe even beat his friends and earn himself a free meal.

But slowly, his steam began to burn out after running through what seemed like the same exact pattern over and over again. Eventually, he resorted to walking through the maze instead of running. As he took careful steps, he began to hear the sound of shuffling on the dirt. Jisung crept through the corn and peeked through the tall stalks. Pacing alone at a dead end stood Renjun. He looked distraught or sad or something. What Jisung did understand was that he wasn’t looking 100% in that moment. So he cautiously walked around the corn and up to Renjun, startling the older as he turned around.

Putting a hand to his heart momentarily, he looked at Jisung with wide eyes. “Gosh, where did you even come from? I didn’t hear you at all!”

“I just came from around the corner… what are you doing?” He asked.

“I, uh, just wasn’t feeling my best. I kinda just wanna go home.” Renjun admit.

“Why? Does your stomach hurt or do you have a headache?”

He shook his head slowly. “No, not like that. I’m just- Ive just got a lot on my mind at the moment.”

“Ohh,” Jisung nodded. “Do you want to talk about it at all?”

Renjun looked up at him. “Not really. But I’ll tell you a bit, I guess. It’s about Jeno and Jaemin.”

Jisung knew what this was about, but kept silent.

“I don’t know if i should stay out of their way or not. I… I don’t know, my emotions lately have been really confusing and I-”

“You like Jeno.” Jisung said, looking Renjun straight in the eyes. The blonde boy could only nod.   
“But he likes Jaemin.” Renjun stated.

“You don’t know that for sure. Who knows, there’s a good chance that he could like you, too.”

“I guess, but it’s unlikely. I just need time to sort out my emotions. I will tell you more later, just give me a day or two.”

Jisung nodded. He decided that Renjun would probably want some space, so he carried on to make his way out of the maze. Because he still wanted to get free food. But the confidence from before slowly began to deplete as the sun slowly began to set. The voices from before died down. Maybe because they lost their voice, maybe because they found their way out.

Jisung didn’t know.

But what he did know is that he needed to get out before nightfall.

While he was still trying to find his way out, Donghyuck, Mark, and Jaemin had completed the maze quite easily, soon to be followed by Renjun and Jeno. But the two people who were missing was Jisung and Chenle. As Jisung wandered through the maze, the realization hit him. If Chenle were still in the maze, he would be alone in the dark and possibly without a flashlight. And that thought worried him so much. So he began searching. Looking at dead ends, making many turns and sometimes even yelling out the other boy’s name.

And as Jisung began to panic for both himself and Chenle, Renjun and Jeno came out from the maze together. Renjun’s eyes were red and Jeno had a look of concern clear on his face. Everyone crowded around the two, asking what was wrong. The only thing got out of questioning them was “Not now.” from Jeno. And with that, everyone stopped asking. Donghyuck decided that they should drive everyone home and then return later to pick up the last two missing boys. Everyone agreed and got into the car. The ride back to their homes was deafeningly quiet.

Meanwhile in the corn maze, the sun had completely gone away, leaving only the moonlight to light up the paths of the maze. There were quiet hums of the breeze swaying the cornstalks as Jisung ran through the maze. He had called multiple times on his phone to get ahold of Chenle but only one was picked up, only to be hung up as soon as it was answered. The blue haired boy shivered in his thin coat. By this time, he had turned on his phone flashlight to see ahead.

All the running had made him become exhausted. But no matter how much he wanted to just lie down on the ground and fall asleep, he knew that he would never get a blink of sleep with the thought of Chenle somewhere in this maze. Somewhere inside him, he knew that the boy was still inside the tortuous maze. So he continued to search and search until he heard the sound of uneven breathing nearby. He nearly sprinted to the sound. And what he found was exactly what he was looking for, Chenle.

The boy was sitting with his head between his knees and arms covering his face. Jisung took a few steps toward him and crouched beside the older boy. The teary eyes boy looked up and immediately lunged for Jisung, wrapping his arms around the other boy’s neck. Jisung responded by wrapping his arms around Chenle’s waist. They stayed like that until Chenle spoke into Jisung’s shirt.

“I thought I was gonna be here all night, alone in the dark with all the creepy noises.” Chenle sniffled. “My phone died a while ago so I just sat here and hoped that the night wouldn’t last too long.”

“Well it doesn’t have to be too long now. I’m here and’ve got a flashlight, so let’s get out of here.”

Chenle smiled and nodded before standing up. Turning on his flashlight, Jisung lead the way. And for the most part, they made some progress, not running into too many dead ends or ending up in the same place. There even began to be some places that they recognized as right or wrong ways. After being in a place for so long, you being to memorize it.

But all good things have to come to an end. When they finally think they’re headed the right way and onto something, the flashlight on the phone dies out and the two boys are left in the dark. Jisung could feel Chenle tense beside him. “No, no, no, no, no” He muttered and covered his face with his hands.

“Hey, stay calm, Chenle. Here, hold onto my arm and we’ll get figure this out. Just stay calm and we can do this.”

And with that, Chenle nodded and clung onto Jisung’s arm. For the most part, it worked. Chenle felt safer and calmer as he held onto the other boy and they were able to still make their way around the maze. For the most part, their search went smoothly without any more problems except for one moment where the corn stalks around them rustled just the slightest.

“What was that?” Chenle whispered.

“It’s probably just the wind” Jisung said and began to walk slowly through the path. And they both agreed with that statement until the same spot rustled again. This time, the two froze, both unable to move their feet as they stared at the patch of moving stalks. Jisung could feel Chenle’s grip tighten on his arm and his own breath became caught in his throat. He nearly screamed when the creature revealed itself from it’s hiding place in the bushes. But he stopped himself.

It was just a chicken.

Slowly, Jisung looked over to Chenle. A smile broke loose on his face and he began laughing. A chicken was what caused both to get so freaked out! It was just a silly little chicken, probably as lost as they were. The two had a laughing fit until they had to lean on each other to catch their breath.

After only a few more turns and long paths, the two found themselves at the end of the maze. Finally. As soon as they realized this accomplishment, they yelled and cheered in excitement. Chenle even gave Jisung a big hug, almost squeezing the life out of the younger boy. Jisung hugs back with just about the same force, a wide smile evident on his face.

But now that they’ve found their way out, there’s another problem to deal with. They’re stranded at a corn maze until someone comes to pick them up.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again... noooot edited


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mentioned sexual references BUT NOnE OF THAT NASTY STUFF BC SEXUALIZING MINORS IS A NO NO

Halloween was the day that children and families would go out trick or treating for candy in their cute little costumes. And also the day where many high school students either decide to dress up or stay cooped up at home. For Mark and Donghyuck, they were the ones who dressed up. And also the ones who forced their friends to dress up too. They weren’t going trick or treating, though. They were going to a party. A party hosted by one of the kids from the soccer team. The party was half an excuse to have friends over and half an actual Halloween party. And of course, the parents weren’t home, which mean that this could become crazy real quick. Mark and Jaemin were at the party first, being part of the soccer team, they promised to help set up. Later in the evening, Donghyuck, Renjun, and Jeno showed up. And last to come was Jisung and Chenle. (Even though Jisung was supposed to help set up, they let it slide.) It was the first  _ real _ high school party that the two youngest had ever been at before. (Which includes at least one senior claiming that the contents in his water bottle were not alcohol, some broken furniture and way too many people in one house.)

 

It was a little intimidating, to say the least. But at least they weren’t alone. They still had Mark and Donghyuck, who dressed up as a devil and angel. Jeno, who went as his character in the play, Tony. Renjun, who put his artistic skills to work and used body paint to look like a skeleton. Jaemin, who went as the Cheshire cat. And of course, each other. (They went as a poorly planned thing one and thing two.) 

 

For a typical parents-aren’t-home high school party, there weren’t too many people in this one house. There was still a good amount, though. Enough to intimidate the two younger boys. The costumes covering identities made everything even worse. With the exorbitant amounts of face paint, creepy masks, and well-made costumes, it was impossible to recognize anyone in a crowd. They felt awkward just standing at the corner of the room, looking and feeling so small, so the two decided to merge into the mob of witches, animals, and murderers. 

 

“I feel so out of place,” Chenle whispered to Jisung as the pushed their way through some people and to a surprisingly unoccupied couch. “We should just go find Mark or Jeno or something.”

 

Jisung shook his head as he took a seat on the uncomfortably squishy couch. The fabric was moist to touch and quite old. Chenle crinkled his nose and stood back up as soon as he was down. Jisung wiped his hands on his red pants. “Yeah, maybe that’s a better idea.”

 

Linking arms, the two made their way through the small crowd of costumed-people. Once they got to a hallway (still filled with people) the front door swung open and a brown haired boy from the soccer team gave a big whoop. He walked right out to the middle of the room and onto a chair. People from the kitchen poked out their head to see what was going on. 

 

“Guess who brought refreshments!” He yelled, holding up a bag that contained everything but legal beverages for the many teens in the room. Jisung and Chenle glanced at each other as many other people cheered. 

 

“Let’s go find Mark and tell him we’re leaving.” Chenle said, voice strangely harsh. 

 

“What? Why? We can’t stay for longer?” 

 

“This environment is not good for underclassmen. We should leave before anything bad happens.” 

 

“What are you two bickering about? Why don’t you join a game of truth or dare?” The same boy that brought the drinks came up to them and slung his arm over their shoulders. Chenle looked up at him with wide eyes and glanced at Jisung. Before either of them could respond, they were dragged to a large circle that had formed in the living room. 

  
  


In the commodious kitchen, there stood Mark and a few girls from the high school. Many of them were fans of his that came to every single soccer practice and game. He never noticed them, but Donghyuck sure did. As Mark conversed with each of the girls, the younger subtly gave them death glares as he stood close to Mark’s side. Honestly, Donghyuck wasn’t having much fun. He kind of wanted to go home. Don’t get him wrong, he loves parties and being with his friends, but he wasn’t having fun today. He hung out with Mark for the whole time, hoping to spend time with his best friend and maybe clear up some of the misunderstandings they’ve had, but he had been occupied talking to every single person in the house. For a second, it seemed like he was ignoring the other. So when a few people came into the kitchen, grabbing a few plastic cups and saying, “We’re playing truth or dare, everyone is free to join!” he was quite interested. There was nothing like hearing the latest drama, secrets, and gossip from playing a truth or dare. Not to mention, the events that happened when people dared to take a dare. 

So he left Mark’s side for the first time that night and joined the small circle of people. He spotted his two younger friends, Chenle and Jisung, on the other side of the circle. He waved and smiled at them and they slightly smiled back. They looked uncomfortable. A few minutes passed and Donghyuck felt a tap on his shoulder; it was Mark. He sat down next to his friend and they waited for the game to start. It seemed that they were the only ones who weren’t aware of the  _ alcohol  _ part of the game. Somehow, by the time the game started, Renjun, Jeno, and Jaemin took a seat along the circle. All of them were in this now. 

 

“Alright, who wants to start!” A girl yelled as the stood up from the circle. When no one jumped to be first to go, she tried again. “Okay, fine. Minhyuk, truth or dare. Remember, if you chicken out, you have to take a shot.” 

 

The boy that was called out nodded and then said: “Truth.” 

 

“Okay… Let’s start off easy. Who was your first love?” 

 

“Uhm... “ A small blush dusted his cheeks. “Moonbin.” Once he said it, a person next to him gasped quite loud. In response, the surprised friend got a smack on the shoulder. 

 

And so the game started, secrets being confessed, embarrassing acts being made. The order went clockwise around the circle. Jisung’s heart began to beat faster and faster as his turn came closer and closer. So far, no one had taken a shot. 

 

“Jisung, our favorite freshman!” The boy next to him said once his turn was done. “Truth or dare?” 

 

“Dare?” He said hesitantly. It would be lame to choose a truth, but he didn’t necessarily want to do a dare. 

 

“I dare you to show us that dance choreo that you’ve been secretly working on for so long.” 

 

Jisung sighed exasperatedly. It’s not the worst dare but he certainly didn’t want to dance in front of people in some silly costume. Reluctantly, he stood up and started the dance. Praying not to mess up, he counted in his head the steps as he moved his body to how he choreographed the dance. In what seemed like seconds, he was done and a few people were even clapping.  _ That wasn’t too bad _ , he thought to himself as he forced back a small smile. Hopefully, his next dares wouldn’t get any more embarrassing than that. 

 

He quickly sat back down again and turned to his purple-haired friend, “Truth or dare, Chenle?” 

 

“Truth.” 

 

Jisung thought for a second. He already knew a lot about his best friend. What else was there to know? He eventually decided to save his friend some embarrassment and went with an easy question. 

 

“Who was your first kiss?” 

 

Immediately, the boy’s ears turned red along with his cheeks. “I haven’t had my first kiss…” 

 

The confession surprised Jisung. His lips slightly parted and his thoughts took over his mind.  _ Why not?  _ He wanted to ask but didn’t know if that was pushing the boundaries or not. 

 

“Aww, Chenle hasn’t had his first kiss yet? Why not?” One of the girls asked. So much for saving embarrassment. 

 

“I… want to save it for someone special.” Chenle said, feeling pressured to answer. 

 

A few smiles were seen throughout the circle as Chenle quickly turned to the person next to him and asking them  _ Truth or Dare _ .

 

And the game continued. But Jisung couldn’t seem to stop thinking about the fact that Chenle hadn’t had his first kiss yet. How? He had dated people before… so why hasn’t it happened yet? The topic started to make him feel a bit sick thinking of who would end up stealing the older boy’s first kiss. 

 

He finally brought his attention back to the game when someone asked the excited Donghyuck:

 

“What ever happened to you and…  _ you know who _ ?” 

 

Donghyuck’s smile quickly turned to a frown and sat frozen. Mark sat ridged next to him, most obviously anxious as to what his best friend would say. After a few silent seconds, Donghyuck reached for a plastic cup gestured for someone to pour. Mark looked at him and pulled the younger boy’s his arm away. 

 

“What the hell are you doing?!” He hissed. 

 

“Saving myself some embarrassment and saving my reputation.”

 

“You can’t drink that! I won’t allow you!”

 

“You can’t stop me. Unless you want to tell everyone what happened between me and  _ him _ .” 

 

Mark stayed paused for a moment, making sure to be careful with his words. “Hyuck, you’re underaged. If your parents find out... if  _ Coach _ finds out you’ll be kicked off the team.” 

 

“Then let’s be sure they don’t find out.” 

 

Donghyuck held the plastic cup in one hand and brought it to his lips. He stared at Mark’s horrified expression as he downed the alcoholic liquid. It burned and tasted absolutely disgusting. He coughed and grimaced, but kept it down. He was the first person to drink in the game. When he finished, he looked back up to his best friend.

 

“Truth or dare, Mark.”

 

“Truth.” 

 

“Have you lost your virginity?” It was a question that he has been wanting to ask for a while. Mark stared at him, wide eyes and embarrassment showing on his face. 

 

“Well? Are you going to answer the question or take a shot?” 

 

Mark pursed his lips and leaned over to whisper in Donghyuck’s ear. “Is the alcohol already affecting your mind?”

 

“Answer. Or shot.” 

 

“No.” 

 

“Then you have to-”

 

“No, I haven’t.”

 

After a moment of silence, one of the boys spoke up. “All of you guys are so innocent. Either that or you just don’t get around much. First, it was kissing, now it’s sex? Wow.” 

 

“Yeah, dude. You’re a senior, you haven’t even like, gotten a handjob or… anything?”

 

“It’s none of your business.” Mark mumbled through a clenched jaw. 

 

A few people around the circle added their own opinions or told him to ‘loosen up’. Mark sat with a frown on his face, his eyes glued to Donghyuck’s. He couldn’t seem to figure out what the younger boy’s eyes read. Donghyuck nodded then motioned to the person sitting next to Mark, signaling for the game to continue. They went on and few people left the circle until only eight people were left. Jeno and Jaemin left long ago, Mark was only playing because he was forced to, Renjun remained for unknown reasons, and the two youngest stayed just because there really was nothing else to do. Donghyuck, on the other hand, was having fun with the game. He was a bit tipsy, to Mark’s disappointment, and more daring than usual, but he could care less. Instead, he slung a heavy arm around Mark’s shoulder and giggled as the game progressed. By this time, it was well past 12:00am, but everyone was as alive as ever. 

 

“I dare you to do a striptease.” 

 

“Ever had a crush on a teacher?”

 

“Flirt shamelessly with someone not involved in the game.”

 

“Ever smoked?”

 

By now, people were just asking whoever they wanted rather than going in order. Since there were few people, it didn’t quite matter anymore. 

 

“Chenle,” 

 

A boy from the soccer team called out.  Chenle brought his head up and looked at the brown-haired boy. “Truth or Dare?”

 

Chenle gave the question some thought before making up his mind. “Dare,”

 

It was one of the only dares that he took this game. With these teens, it’s dangerous to choose to dare. But he was feeling confident, and plus, he knew the boy quite well. He wouldn’t put him through something  _ too _ embarrassing, right? Chenle had that little bit of comfort and trust in the boy that he didn’t seem to notice the mischief in his eyes. 

 

“I dare you to kiss Jisung.”

 

Chenle tensed up immediately. “No,” he said, voice wavering and Jisung felt a small stab in his heart. Ouch. 

 

“Then that means you’ll have to drink.” The same boy who gave the dare said, picking up a half-empty bottle of beer with one hand and a bottle of whiskey with another. 

 

“No,” Chenle said again, this time firmer. 

 

“Then you’re gonna have to make a decision. There is no way of getting out of this.” Another teen said with a giggle. Chenle began to shake his head, his lips pursed. Everyone’s eyes were on him, waiting for him to make a decision. Under immense pressure and embarrassment, he didn’t know what to do. His heart beat fast in his chest and his palms began to sweat. Without thinking, Chenle stood up and ran out of the room. A voice soon followed after, Jisung. 

 

People around the circle glanced at each other, both shocked and many quite interested in the drama to occur. 

 

As soon as the purple haired boy ran out the room, Jisung knew that this was bad. He had to go after him. Even though he’s a little hurt that Chenle, his best friend that he may or may not have some special feelings for, was so reluctant to kiss him, he knew that Chenle was super embarrassed from the dare. So he followed the boy until he had nowhere else to run and hide, a closet. Chenle hid inside a coat closet in what he assumed was the constricted parents’ room. The lights were off inside the room, the brightest light was the moon. Standing before the closet, he knocked on it twice. 

 

“Go away.” Chenle mumbled. “I want to be left alone.”

 

Jisung sighed and put his head on the closet door. “Come on, let me in.”

 

“No. I said go away.” 

 

Jisung stayed silent and moved to sit against the doors, leaning his head on the wooden door. “Sorry.” 

 

Chenle scoffed. “Why are you apologizing?”

 

“Because… I don’t know, just because.”

 

“But you didn’t do anything wrong. I was the one that ran away and made a fool out of myself.”

 

“At least you didn’t drink, Mark would have killed you.”

 

“I kinda would have rather drink than make a fool out of myself…”

 

Jisung bit his lip before choosing his next words. “Am I really  _ that _ undesirable?”

 

“No!” Chenle said, making a clatter in the closet. “I mean, no, you’re not.” 

 

“So then why…” Jisung started to mumble but his voice died off.

 

Chenle stayed silent for a moment. “I didn’t want to do it in front of so many people. It was nothing against you, I was just… surprised and a little nervous.”

 

Jisung nodded before realizing that the other boy couldn’t see him. “Yeah, I get it. It was a little stressful doing and saying things in front of a crowd.” 

 

The younger boy stood up from his spot on the floor and turned toward the closet doors. “Can you come out now?

 

Seconds later, the closet door opened to reveal a messy-haired Chenle who had a nervous smile on his face. Jisung reached out a hand to help Chenle up. Once Chenle was out of the closet and fixing his hair, their hands stayed entwined. 

 

“Let’s go home.” 

 

So the as the two boys left the party, music still played loud in the brightly lit house. Those who still remained were starting to calm a bit down and some even quieted down too. The truth or dare game ended a while after Chenle and Jisung left. Everyone parted their ways except for Mark and Donghyuck. 

 

“Marrrrk,” Donghyuck drawled out, clinging to the older boy’s arm. After some bad decisions from truth or dare, Donghyuck was a bit tipsy and Mark wasn’t having any of it. Mark was quite mad at his friend but knew that he couldn’t just ditch him when he’s acting the way he is. He doesn’t want some creepy dude approaching Donghyuck when he’s not in his right state of mind. 

 

“What.” Mark responded, walking through the hall to go to the kitchen. 

 

“I’m thirsty.”

 

Mark sighed, “That’s why I’m going to the kitchen.”

 

Donghyuck smiled as they walked in and Mark went to get him a glass of water. That smile faltered when those same admirers from before crowded around the older boy.  _ They must have no life if they stayed here all night. I’m surprised they didn’t follow Mark everywhere he went.  _ Donghyuck thought to himself. 

 

“You’re drinking water! Wow, you’re so healthy.” One of the girls said and Donghyuck rolled his eyes. 

 

“Uhh, yeah. It’s not for me, though.” 

 

Donghyuck decided that it was a perfect moment to slide into this conversation. “It’s for me, right Markie-poo?” He said, taking the cup out of Mark’s hand. Mark just stared. 

 

“After all, I am his boyfriend.” Donghyuck smiled as he took a drink from the cup. The girls gasped, glancing from Mark and Donghyuck. Mark’s eyes were open wide. After Donghyuck put the cup on the counter with a sly smile, Mark took hold of his arm. He quickly dragged the younger boy out from the kitchen as the girls stared at their every move as they left the room. 

 

“What the hell was that!?” He hissed as soon as they were in the dark hallway. 

 

“Have you noticed how those girls were eyeing you up and down. Like you’re some kind of eye candy. Seriously, the way they twirled their hair in their fingers, batted their eyelashes at you. It’s a good thing you’re dense or else you might actually have a girlfriend.

 

“Donghyuck,” Mark growled.

 

“I honestly don’t get it,” Donghyuck started, slinging an arm around Mark’s neck. “How can you know me for so long and not notice how I blush whenever you compliment me, laugh at all of your stupid jokes and practically die every time you hug me.”

 

“Hyuck,” Mark’s voice quieted a bit.

 

“Wait, I’m not done. Do you know how agonizing it’s been to realize this? I swore not to fall in love again, but here I am. I’ve fallen for my best friend.”

 

“I need to know, do you feel the same? Have you thought of me that way before? More than friends?” Donghyuck wrapped his other arm around Mark’s neck, bringing their faces close. Mark’s heart was beating fast and his breath got caught in his throat. 

 

Mark bit his lip as he slowly nodded. 

 

Donghyuck looked up at his best friend, staring into his dark eyes. The eyes that had always watched out for him. He felt himself lean forward and slowly close his eyes. He could feel Mark’s breath on his lips. But what he anticipated never came. Instead, a rough push on his shoulders caused him to stumble backward, hitting his back against the other wall of the hallway. 

 

His eyes shot open to stare at a stunned Mark. “Hyuck, I can’t.”

 

Donghyuck felt as though someone has stabbed him in the heart. “Why?” He breathed. 

 

“Not when you aren’t in the right of mind, not where you’re drunk.” Mark shook his head. 

 

Hyuck just stared back with pleading eyes. His drunken heart was shattering to pieces. The one chance he had taken to confess to Mark had been shot down and refused. Tears gathered in his eyes as he slid down the wall to sit on the floor. He buried his head in his knees. Mark sat next to him and hesitantly patted his back. It felt awkward.  _ I ruined it. I ruined it all.  _ Was all Donghyuck could think. 

 

“Let’s talk more in the morning, I think right now it’s best to just sleep it out and sort it out later.”

Probably not the best advice Mark had given, but at the moment, it sounded pretty good. 

 

Hyuck only slumped as Mark stood up. “I’ll go ask if we can stay in one of the guest rooms.” He said, pointing to the kitchen door. Then he left. Donghyuck chewed his lip as he wiped away the tears that ran uncontrollably down his face. Luckily, he was able to wipe away the stray tears just before Mark entered the dark hallway again. But as Donghyuck stood up with his head hanging low, Mark already knew. He already knew that they had messed up. He already knew that he hurt Donghyuck and that there was healing that needed to be done.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it’s more than halfway through november….and I’m posting a Halloween chapter. So please just go with it :) This whole fic is going to be a month off.  
> I cringed so much writing this.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the order of events is confusing :/

Mark woke up confused and drowsy. It was well into the afternoon, yet the house was silent. Rubbing his eyes, black eyeliner smudged off onto his hand. He groaned as memories from the party flooded back into his mind. He had messed up badly and hand to talk to Donghyuck as soon as possible, but as he rolled to the other side of the bed, the sheets felt empty and cold.  
Mark sat up quickly, staring at the empty side of the bed

He stood up, stiff. His limbs felt heavy. He took a moment to collect his thoughts until he realized that a certain red-haired boy was missing.

Mark assumed that he had woken up before him.

Trudging out of the dark guest room, he found the trashed house littered with not just red solo cups, but bodies of tired teenagers as well. They were all undoubtedly going to wake up with unbearable hangovers. As Mark wandered the house, he increasingly became giddy that he hadn’t been the one to host the party, but he also began to realize that Donghyuck was still missing. He took his phone out and dialed the number he knew by heart. He didn't even have to look down to make sure his fingers were typing the correct numbers.

Bringing the phone to his ear, he waited for Donghyuck to answer with his typical “What do you want, loser.”

But as the phone rang, no one answered and instead, he got Donghyuck’s voicemail.

‘Strange,’ he thought. ‘Donghyuck always answers when someone calls.’ He tried again, but that same voicemail was all he got. Mark knew that they hadn’t exactly talked or made up since Hyuck’s “confession” from the night before, but no matter what kind of fight they had, or what kind of awkward thing was going on between them, his best friend always picks up, and vice versa.

After a few minutes of pacing around the house and Mark decided to head home. There was no use in staying at the house if he was trying to find someone who wasn't there. As he began to walk home, he couldn't help but become increasingly worried with each step, so instead of heading home, he took a turn to Donghyuck's house. His strides became wider and his pace became faster, he needed to make sure Hyuck was at home, then they could sort everything out and go back to normal. Back to best friends.

Before long, Mark stood pounding on the front door to Donghyuck's house. He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for any kind of response. The door soon opened, revealing a very familiar woman, Donhyuck's mom. A smile grew on her face as soon as she saw Mark, inviting him into the house and asking him if he’d like anything to drink. But instead, Mark stayed outside on the front steps. Looking up at her, Mark smiled and said that he had to be urgent, then he asked about his best friend.

"Is Donghyuck home? He hasn't been answering my calls or anything. I was... I am a bit worried."

The woman tilted her head to the side with a confused expression. "I thought he was at your house? Weren't you two supposed to go home after trick or treating? Did you get separated?" She began to bombard him with questions. Now he had a concerned mother to calm and talk to before he could continue to find his friend. Luckily, she took a few deep breaths to compose herself and said. "You know what? I'll try to call a few of his friends, maybe he went and spent the night with them. Don't worry, I'll call your mother when I find where he is. Now get back home safely."

Mark nodded, a little shocked by the sudden change in mood, but said his goodbyes before rushing away from the house. He felt guilty not telling her that Hyuck spent the night at a friend's house but left early. She would be wasting time calling parents. But Mark, on the other hand, would surely make more progress calling his friends. They definitely would have information on where Hyuck went, right? 

* * *

  
"You mean, you haven't seen him at all since last night?" Mark yelled into the phone. He was in his bedroom, calling everyone he had the contact to that was at the party.

"No, I left the party early, remember?" Jeno responded.

* * *

  
"Are you sure that you didn't see him leave in the morning?"

"No, bro, I was sleeping in the morning. Just because I hosted the party doesn't mean I know what everyone in the party did and what time everyone left."

* * *

  
"Do you know anywhere that Hyuck would go if he wasn't at home? Like any secret hideout?"

"I don't know, he's your best friend. Also, a secret hideout? That only is in the movies." 

* * *

 

But finally, he got some answers.

"Wait, so you saw him leave?"

"Yeah,"

"When? Did he say where he was going?"

"He left around.... about two in the morning. He didn't say where he was going."

"Shit," Mark cursed under his breath. "Well, thanks. You've been so much help. Gotta go,"

Mark hung up before he heard her response. He now knew that he left at two, only a while after they decided to call it a night and go into the guest room.

If he left at two in the morning, where could he have gone? Who would he go to? Why did this all have to be so difficult?

No one had any idea where Donghyuck had gone and he wasn’t answering his calls. What if something happened to him? Something Bad?

* * *

  
{1:48am in the guestroom}

 

Donghyuck was pacing around the room. Mark had fallen asleep not too long ago, but Donghyuck couldn’t close his eyes. He was still kind of drunk and very heartbroken. He couldn’t stand to be near the older boy when he knew that everything between them was messed up.  
As Mark moved in the bed, Donghyuck tensed. He didn’t want to talk to Mark. He wanted to be alone, he wanted to go home. He stood still, listening to the party dying down on the other side of the door. His hands itched and mouth felt dry. He couldn’t be here anymore. Bursting out the door, he avoided everyone as he passed through the living room. They were surely too drunk to notice the tears welling up in his eyes. They probably wouldn’t care even if they did notice. After jamming his shoes on, he hurried out the door.

The nighttime air was cold on his skin, but at least cooled down his burning face. He was sure that any eye makeup he was wearing was now streaking down his cheeks. Shivering, he began to walk in the directed where he thought his home was. It was a few blocks away, but he’d rather be home than at that hellhole.  
As he walked, he noticed that he wasn’t the only person out at two in the morning. There were a few drunk girls walking around in short skirts or skimpy dresses. They were laughing loudly and talking in slurs. He wished that he could be that relaxed as them.

He was so focused on the care-free girls that he barely noticed a car pull up next to him. The window rolled down. “Hey, kid, do you wanna ride home?” the man in the passenger’s seat asked. Donghyuck’s eyes widened. He tried to stutter words out to deny the offer, but his mind was too hazy to form any coherent sentences. The man opened his door and came out of the passenger seat, taking ahold of Donhyuck’s forearm. “C’mon, we wouldn’t want a pretty boy like you walking out here in the cold.” He began to open the backseat doors. Donghyuck began to panic. “N-n-no, stop,” He said quietly. He couldn’t bring his voice any louder. Before the man was able to push Donghyuck into the car, another hand took Donghyuck’s arm and pulled him away. The man let go of his arm and looked at the person who had taken Donghyuck away from him. “What do you think you’re doing!” The person yelled at the man. The man only stared at them and then rushed back into the passenger seat yelling “Go Go Go!”  
By now, Donghyuck was sobbing. The person put their arms around Donghyuck shoulders. “Hyuck, what are you doing out at this time?” The person asked gently. Donghyuck would recognize that voice anywhere. He began to sob harder and louder. The person began to walk them to a car and said: “Let’s talk about this later, for now, let’s just go to my place.” Donghyuck nodded and sniffled.

 

* * *

 

  
"Donghyuck. Are you awake?" A soothing voice asked. Donghyuck was sitting up on a couch with a blanket around his shoulders. His expression was blank, but there were tear stains on his cheeks. He didn’t answer the other boy’s question, so the said boy started talking again.

“You did tell your mother that you’re here, right?”

Donghyuck nodded. “Yeah, she knows. I told her to cover for me if… Mark comes around.”

The boy looked at Donghyuck with sad eyes. “Do you want to talk about it? Maybe I can help-”

“No, Taeyong, I really don’t want to talk about it. I just need time to heal before I talk to him again. If he even wants to talk to me again. Taeyong stood still before sighing and walking out of the living room. Donghyuck’s eyes followed him until he was completely out of sight. His lip began to tremble again and his eyes watered. Once again, tears began to fall down his face as he quietly cried.

“I really fucked up this time, huh.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realized that you could put that line in the middle of the page and kind of went crazy :))


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been so long! Here's the next chapter (finally). It's v short, but it's all I can manage to do right now. More will come once it's the summertime.

Jeno was confused. He didn’t know what he was feeling. In these past few weeks, he had been flung into a vortex of emotions. When he met Renjun, he was introduced to someone who he thought was different, interesting and, if he’s being honest, kinda cute. He was fun to be around and everytime he was near the boy, he felt happy. All throughout the afterschool “date” that they had, he felt light and bubbly. He almost felt as though he were falling for the blonde haired boy. But then he met Jaemin, the dark-haired pianist for the after-school play. And that day Jeno experienced pure bliss in a person. Before he knew it or could stop it, Jeno had fallen head over heels for both of the boys. Both were uniquely interesting and refreshing in their own way. He had been too busy drowning in his own emotions to realize the emotions of those around him. The night of the corn maze is when he started to finally realize the feelings that Renjun had for him. The poor boy had kept them from him, shielding his emotions to keep himself from getting hurt. Jeno had realized it when he found him in the maze. Jeno had gotten separated from Jaemin so he was roaming by himself and just happened to hear Renjun’s conversation with Jisung. His initial intent was to jump out and scare them, but as soon as he heard his and Jaemin’s name uttered from the boy’s lips, he froze. He didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but after hearing the topic of the conversation, he just froze. And his heart broke a little. The older boy just sounded so broken and tired. He tried to run away from the conversation, but with his luck, he ended up going in a circle in the maze and running straight into the person he wanted to evade. He looked shocked, his eyes wide and a little red. He looked exhausted as he stumbled backwards into the stalks of corn. He managed to keep his balance despite being practically body-slammed by Jeno. The two stood in silent, just Jeno staring at Renjun and Renjun staring at the ground. “What’s up?” Jeno eventually said in an attempt to act casual. Renjun responded with little effort as he muttered a “Not much,” And that was it. The conversation ended there, neither of the boys trying to continue their discussion. It felt uncomfortable and wrong. Just days ago, they would be laughing at the coincidental meeting in the maze. Jeno began walking in some direction waiting for Renjun to follow along. Eventually Renjun trailed behind him and Jeno spoke up again. “What’s wrong?” Jeno wasn’t facing him, but he could tell that Renjun paused his step for a second before answering a little too defensive. “Nothing’s wrong.” His voice cracked at his last word. “Nothing’s wrong at all.” He said again, this time his voice strained and forced. Jeno kept almost turned around but knew he would regret it if he did. He didn’t need Renjun’s tear-stained face ingrained in his head, knowing it was all his fault for the boy’s pain. Nope. No thank you. Instead he kept walking at a steady pace as he tried to figure his way out of the maze. They ended up walking in silence, the only sound that Jeno would hear is a few sniffles and occasionally a hiccup which indicated that the older boy was crying. By the time they got out of the maze, Donghyuck and Mark were out, too. The two boys were waiting on a stack of hay chatting up a storm. Donghyuck saw Jeno and Renjun out of the corner of his eye and was about to yell for them to come over until he caught glimpse of Renjun’s state. Without a single question directed toward Jeno, Donghyuck snatched Renjun and started to lead the rest of the group to the car. He also made sure to keep mumbling encouraging words such as,“Everything will be alright, you’ll be fine, sweetie, we can talk about it later.” Eventually Donghyuck looked over at Mark and yelled, “Get your keys, we’re going home.”

“But what about the other kids?’ Mark had asked, pointing his thumb back to the corn maze, but Donghyuck shook his head. “We can get them later, let’s just go home.” 

And that’s how that day ended. Jeno was dropped off at home and he got no word of what happened to Renjun later. In fact, no one brought it up again. 

Jeno had thought it over time and time again, but he couldn’t quite piece together what exactly happened that night. Yes, he got the whole eavesdropping of the confession, but it just didn’t sink in. He wasn’t even meant to hear it in the first place. But knowing about Renjun’s crush on him just made him feel guilty. He did have some sort of feelings to reciprocate, but he felt bad about it. What would he do about his feelings for Jaemin? How would this affect his relationship with both Renjun and Jaemin? Sure, he’d get a bomb ass boyfriend, but would Jaemin be mad? The boy has been flirting with him since day one, so what was his true intention? Jeno didn’t know. 

The next incident that made Jeno realize how much of a mess he’s in was the Halloween party. It was the truth or dare game that he really realized how much Renjun was hurting. Instead of participating in the games happening at the party, he planted himself on the couch, listening to the commotion. He eventually joined the game of truth or dare, mostly just to watch. As his turn came up each time, he would refuse the truth or dare, shrug with a tight smile, and take a drink of whatever alcoholic beverage the bartender of the game had stirred up. Jeno watched him down the drink, his black and white face paint smudging on the plastic cup. He made eye contact every now and then. His eyes used to shine with joy, but at that moment they were dull and filled with sadness. Jeno frowned. Jaemin, on the other hand, looked to be having a lot of fun at the party. He wasn’t playing truth or dare, but socializing with almost everyone at the party. He steered away from that toxic game of truth or dare and preferred games like pool. Jaemin would have been the ideal designated driver. He hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol at that party and instead stuck with sparkling apple cider (he kept telling everyone that it was a ‘drink me’ potion so that it would go with the theme of his costume, the Cheshire Cat.) At some point, Jaemin had given Renjun a friendly nudge. Jaemin ended up dragging Renjun away from the game and go somewhere else in the huge house. Jeno didn’t have the motivation to follow them or even be at the party anymore. He felt guilty and disgusting, so instead, he left without a word. No one would care anyway, all he did was make people hurt. 

 

That lead him to where he is now. Confused and conflicted. There was really nothing he could do about it either. He knew he had to fix this but had no clue how to approach any of it. So instead, he ignored it, just until it would come to the point where it could not be ignored anymore. 

  
  
  
  



End file.
